• From unsafe arterial to thriving main street

    CNU and affiliated designers work with a community to identify implementation solutions for a disinvested urban corridor west of Charlotte’s Center City.
    Currently, West Boulevard in Charlotte is anything but a safe and comfortable walk. A narrow sidewalk directly abuts travel lanes where traffic goes 50 miles per hour. There are no street trees or parked cars to buffer pedestrians. Those on foot sense constant danger. The alternative vision is a...Read more

  • The church of urban transformation

    On the Park Bench explores mixed-use, neighborhood-scale development projects for faith communities in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Pike Road, Alabama.
    A growing number of sites owned by worship organizations across the US are in need of planning and development that strengthens community. Those sites present opportunities for mixed-use projects that fulfill higher goals for the faith institutions, according to experts on an On the Park Bench...Read more

  • Church members propose urban village for congregation

    Parishioners of a historic church in Detroit want to develop eight vacant blocks with missing middle housing to build a church-centered community.
    Many thousands of churches are being abandoned in North America as worship communities become geographically dissipated, often spread over large metropolitan areas. Some parishioners of St. Joseph Shrine, a historic Catholic Church just northeast of downtown Detroit, believe that outcome is not...Read more

  • The third place coffeehouse faces a serious challenge

    The rapid rise of kiosk coffee sellers poses a threat to the business model behind the ultimate American third place—the cafe. Communities and nonprofits may have to take a larger role.
    I’m worried about our third places. To those unfamiliar, third places are those venues, other than home and work, where people head for conversation, connection and belonging. Every culture (and subculture) has its own version. Well-known (albeit fictional) ones in ours include Fell's Point Diner...Read more